two stories, one true one not

Family of Afghan victim contradicts military's version of shooting
March 16, 2006

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Drastically conflicting accounts of the death of a civilian at a Canadian-Afghanistan checkpoint emerged Thursday as the dead man's grieving family disputed key details of events both before and after the shooting.

The widow and the second eldest son of the victim said the motorized rickshaw in which Nasrat Ali Hassan was a passenger received no warning to halt before a Canadian soldier opened fire with multiple shots Tuesday night.

The claim was immediately countered by Canadian commanders, who also warned that former Taliban and other insurgents are eager to exploit any incident in order to incite violence against coalition troops.

Ali Hassan's widow, Semen Gul, said the taxi in which she and her husband were riding did not run a police checkpoint, but instead rounded a corner in a city traffic circle - on the opposite side of the barricade.

They suddenly found themselves in front of the Canadian military convoy and that's when a soldier opened fired without warning, she said.

Gul claimed her husband was hit by four bullets, not two as reported by the Canadian military.

"I don't have a husband," Gul sobbed following a wake for her husband at a local mosque in Kandahar.

"I have nobody to protect me. What am I to do? You say sorry. What does sorry mean to me? Will sorry feed my children?"

The couple's second-eldest son, who was also with them in the three-wheeled tuk-tuk vehicle, apparently pleaded with soldiers to rush his father to hospital, but the convoy's translator told him to stay back, otherwise troops would shoot him as well, he said.

"It was not our fault. It was not our fault," said Nisar Khan, 17, through a translator.

"We didn't see anything. They shot at us suddenly. I told them we were not terrorists."

A Canadian Forces medic did tend to the wounded father six children, but perceived the injuries as not life-threatening.

The family said it was forced to call another taxi, which took Ali Hassan to hospital where he died three hours after being admitted.

The harrowing account emerged on the same day as distraught relatives held a funeral for the 45-year-old mechanic and tin-pot maker. At one point during the service, a frenzy erupted as one of Ali Hassan's sobbing children nearly fainted and had to be to taken away from the open white coffin.

The deputy commander of the provincial reconstruction team stood by the military's initial account of the incident.

"The soldier tried to warn the oncoming vehicle with a light and hand gestures before he opened fire, but I'll leave it to investigators to determine the exact events," Maj. Erik Liebert, told The Canadian Press in an interview.

"There were Afghan police on the ground at the time. There were independent witnesses, so I'm sure investigators will do their job."

An independent military judicial unit and Afghan police are conducting the investigation.

"You have to put this into context," said Liebert. "We're in a dangerous situation and soldiers will take actions to protect themselves."


While taking care not to accuse the family of being insurgents, Liebert said he's concerned the incident will be used as justification for further attacks on coalition forces.

"We're very aware of the fact that the Taliban and other people that are hostile to our interest and the interests of the national government are going to exploit this situation," he said.

"There are people right now who are aggravating and saying that we're here to do harm to the Afghan people."

Liebert said he hasn't spoken yet directly with the family because local custom involves three days of mourning.

"Through local authorities we intend to contact the family within the next 24 hours or so and express our condolences and possibly arrange a small gift, if that's appropriate in the cultural circumstances," he said.

Liebert wouldn't specify what kind of gift would be offered, but said it would be separate from any potential compensation package.

"It would an expression of our remorse given the tragic circumstances of this event," he said.